Gadget Advice Requested - note taking device with a keyboard

[andrewducker]

star_tourmaline wants a note taking device, with a keyboard, which isn't a phone. Something small enough to carry about, as if it was a phone, but without the expense of a phone (and the distractions that come with one).

Any suggestions?

Edit: When I say "keyboard" I do not mean "a simulation thereof".

Comments

[drjon.livejournal.com]

iPod Touch, pehaps? Might be able to get an early-model quite cheap on eBay or somesuch.

[momentsmusicaux.livejournal.com]

I was going to say the same.

But it definitely comes with distractions!

[andrewducker]

Needs an actual, physical, real, keyboard.

[drdoug.livejournal.com]

Pretty sure the Apple Wireless Keyboard pairs with an iPod Touch or iPad. (And probably also iPhone.)

Not a cheap solution, of course. (Keyboard is an extra £60 or so from memory.) It does technically meet the "a note taking device, with a keyboard" criterion, but I suspect the desire was actually for a single item.

[dalglir.livejournal.com]

This.

I've had an iPod touch for the last year and it does everything an iPhone does ( including wifi and Bluetooth) except the phone bit. Which isn't to say you can't make calls.... As skype and FaceTime both work over wifi.

Plus it has the iPhone's excellent multi touch keyboard.

[andrewducker]

Needs an actual, physical, real, keyboard.

[star-tourmaline.livejournal.com]

Thank you for hearing this.

[andrewducker]

Needs an actual, physical, real, keyboard.

[flickgc.livejournal.com]

I'm not entirely sure that such a thing exists any more. Hmm. An older Kindle? Hardly ideal, though.

[helen-keeble.livejournal.com]

I have a Kindle Keyboard, and typing anything into it makes me lose the will to live. eInk screens are REALLY not suitable for note-taking.

[flickgc.livejournal.com]

No, I was rather clutching at straws there!

[theweird1ne.livejournal.com]

The only thing that popped into my head was this
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/feb/05/sony-vaio-p-review
But I don't think they sell it anymore. And if they did, it would be mega pricey! *sad face*
**Edit**
Searched for "Pocket PC" and found this
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jornada-720-206MHz-Handheld-Pocket/dp/B00005B4OG/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1320271605&sr=1-1

[helen-keeble.livejournal.com]

Proper keyboard, or the sort of cramped Blackberry-style ones that don't allow touch typing?

The only sort of modern portable touch-type-able device I can think of offhand (short of a netbook) would be an iPod Touch with a folding keyboard.

A little retro, but maybe something like a Neo 2? Not that small, though, nor cheap for what they are.

[helen-keeble.livejournal.com]

Looks like eBay is full of cheap Alphasmart devices. Nowhere near as small as a phone, but would fit in a handbag/backpack.

[momentsmusicaux.livejournal.com]

I thought of those, or something similar.

Aren't they hopelessly obsolete now though? Last I heard of them being vaguely 'current' was around 2004, and even then, what was the point when you could get a laptop and look at a proper screen instead of two piddly lines?

[helen-keeble.livejournal.com]

Yeah, personally I'd go for a tiny netbook or a Blackberry over one of these. But it's a cheap option, and one of the few ways to get a proper keyboard. *shrug*

(they still seem to be being made, though, targeted at the special needs market)

[atreic.livejournal.com]

I have a Dell netbook, but that's definitely not 'small enough to carry as if it were a phone'. With a 9 inch screen it's 'small enough to carry as if it were a book' though.

[octopoid-horror.livejournal.com]

Does it need to be a modern device?

You could find an old Psion palmtop PDA or similar on ebay or second hand somewhere? Unless these are now expensive collectors items.

There are Palm pocket pc/PDAs on Amazon too.

[skington.livejournal.com]

Maybe something ancient like a Psion 5MX or something? It's certainly ancient enough not to have any distractions. Although good luck getting stuff off it.

[philmophlegm.livejournal.com]

Blackberry without a SIM card?


For something a little leftfield, amychaffinch (who is the second most gadgety person I know) swears by one of these:
http://www.livescribe.com/en-gb/

[momentsmusicaux.livejournal.com]

Wait until roll-up keyboards are available. Didn't we see something posted about that quite recently?

Me I want the roll-up piano keyboard like Picard has.

[eatsoylentgreen.livejournal.com]

something with an actual physical keyboard that is phone sized? that's difficult. Plus cheap? I'd just recommend an old laptop, but who wants to lug around an old laptop.

They should make a laptop that's the size of a physical keyboard, that's just good for typing and maybe blogging or Facebook.

[calum]

I have an old Palm TX and an external wireless keyboard kicking around, which works great for note taking. Could probably be persuaded to part with it, but not back till December.

Alternatively, have a look here. Dynamism import cool tech from Japan, often some interesting options there: http://uk.dynamism.com/

[calum]

Some more thoughts

- if you can find a Toshiba AC100 for sale at a decent price, its a cute little Android netbook. Too slow for many things, but for taking notes, perfect.

- The Disgo net browser is a little Windows CE netbook for about £100. Not much use for anything but web, email, wordpad, and excel.

- Expansys have some Dell Inspiron Mini 10's for £200 or so..

[drplokta]

Pick up an old Nokia N810 on eBay. Or just get a phone with a slide-out keyboard and don't use it as a phone.

[tysolna]

Love gadgets, been there, done that, gone back to pen and paper. Never run out of batteries.
Unless there is a real physical need for a keyboard - and yes, you can write faster with it, true - a pen and paper is all that I need.

Sorry to be so unhelpful. ;)

[cobrabay.livejournal.com]

Not sure if they are still available, but what about an Open Pandora handheld? They were aimed at being an open source gaming system, they look like a chunky Nintendo DS with a QWERTY keyboard, but they are effectively a small Linux system, and can be used for browsing, email, and presumably any sufficiently small note-taking application. Even if no longer for sale (and as I recall they where pre-sold in batches) but may turn up on eBay. I'd check but my work proxy won't allow be check anything even vaguely useful.

[j-v-lynch.livejournal.com]

our housemate has one of these:
http://maryan-pelland.suite101.com/neo-the-laptop-word-processor-a49915

but i don't know much about how it works for him.

[octopoid-horror.livejournal.com]

Comedy option: Learn shorthand, get a shorthand recording device.